Some of the highest-income people may be at higher risk of developing cancer than their less well-off counterparts, according to a new study.
Finnish researchers have investigated the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on genetic risk of disease and found that people from poorer backgrounds are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and arthritis.
People from poor families are also more likely to develop lung cancer, depression and alcoholism.
But wealthier people are at higher risk of developing breast, prostate and other cancers.
To find these results, the research team used genomic, SES and health data from approximately 280,000 Finnish people who were aged between 35 and 80 at the start of the study.
Study leader Dr Fiona Hagenbeek said the initial results meant that polygenic risk scores, which measure risk of certain diseases based on genetic information, could potentially be added to testing protocols for some diseases.
“Understanding that the impact of polygenic scores on disease risk is context-dependent could lead to more stratified screening protocols,” Dr. Hagenbeek said.
“For example, in the future, improved breast cancer screening protocols may allow women with higher genetic risk and higher levels of education to be screened earlier or more frequently than women with lower genetic risk or lower levels of education.”
“We can now show that genetic prediction of disease risk also depends on an individual's socio-economic background,” said study author Dr Hagenbeek from the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki.
“So while our genetic information remains constant throughout our lives, the impact of our genetics on disease risk changes as we age and as our environment changes.
“Our study focused only on people of European ancestry, and it will also be important in the future to see whether our observations about the interplay between socioeconomic status and genetic factors on disease risk are replicated in people of multiple ancestry from high- and low-income countries.”
Another study in 2006 found that children from wealthy families, clustered in rural and isolated areas across the UK, had higher cancer rates.
A study of 32,000 cases of childhood cancer over a period of almost 25 years found that cancer incidence was unevenly distributed, with “clusters” in areas such as Cumbria and Dounree.
The study authors did not provide a clear reason why they found this result.
Additional reporting by SWNS.
